Last night I went to bed at 11:30. Unfortunately I didn't get to sleep until about 1:30 AM. This, once again, is not all that uncommon. It takes me longer to get to sleep these days unless I have a few glasses of scotch in me. Yesterday I had none; it was just one of those days. With a bedtime of 11:30 PM and a bit of sleeplessness, I would expect to wake up sometime around 10:30 or 11:00 AM. I awoke at 10:30 AM.
Waking up is not an easy thing for me. It takes me a fair bit of time to get myself from not being asleep to up and sitting. There are a few reasons for this. The simple act of sitting up often takes enough energy to make me want to lie back down. It regularly takes me three or four tries to actually get from lying down to sitting up, with about a 10 minute rest between efforts. Even then I typically rest for about five minutes once I am vertical. Then there is the whole "why bother" thing going one; it's worse some days than others.
This morning I was just awake a few moments when the phone rang. It was my homecare working announcing that she would be here at noon, a mere 85 minutes away. I am flexible around this. I can adjust on short notice; 85 minutes is too short. Nonetheless, I said yes. I was still lying down. It took me until about 11:00 to get vertical. Then I needed a shower, an activity that can take me a half hour or more if you include time for other bathroom activities. It was 11:35 when I got back into my bedroom to get dressed.
In my situation, getting dressed isn't simply getting dressed. Before I even begin I have to deal with my urine jug. Each morning I empty it and then sterilize it, leaving it to soak in the bathroom sink. This morning I also needed to wash my compression socks; I rotate the two pair that I have so I can have clean socks on a consistent basis. These morning activities don't take long, about ten minutes. This means it was 11:45 before I even started to dress.
It typically takes me somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes to put on clothes, depending on what I am wearing and how tired I am in the process. This morning, fortunately, I decided to wear shorts and a t-shirt, the easiest possible attire. Unfortunately I always have my compression socks; putting them on is usually half the time I take in getting dressed. I was halfway through the second sock when the homecare worker arrived.
It's important to understand that by this time I was up and almost dressed, but had not had any breakfast nor any time to write. And I had pushed hard to make it this far. Rather than make her sit around while I ate and wrote, something that would make me uncomfortable and hurried, we went right into my exercises. When she finished I needed a rest, something that usually happens after exercises. While I rested the homecare worker did my dishes and tidied the kitchen. After I got up, she made my bed. Then she left; it was 1:00 PM, the usual starting time.
I explained all this to the homecare worker, letting her know how her impromptu schedule change had affected me. She claimed to understand but her English is poor at best, so I am not sure what will happen next Monday. If this continues to be a problem, I will have to ask the agency to replace her. That will be a shame as she is good at her work, just bad at her timing.
I've finally had some breakfast and I am making coffee in a moment. However I am already tired and it is only 1:30 PM. I think I will have a nap later today. That will mess up my evening, and probably mess with my sleep tonight. It's all of a piece.
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